Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC, lays down rules for the establishment of systems for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals. It provides that all those animals born in Bulgaria after 1 January 2007 are to be identified by means of an eartag and a second means of identification bearing the same individual code as on the eartag within a period of not more than six months and in any case before they leave the holding of birth.

Bulgaria acceded to the Community on 1 January 2007. By letter dated 17 November 2006, Bulgaria requested transitional measures for a period of one year for the identification of ovine and caprine animals in that country, during which time the animals should only be identified by means of a single eartag, except for animals entering into intra-Community trade or intended for export to third countries. Such animals should be identified in accordance with Community rules, except that the means of identification, provided for in Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, may be applied in a holding, other than the holding of birth referred to in Article 4(1) of that Regulation.

In order to facilitate the transition from the existing regime in Bulgaria to that resulting from the application of Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, it is appropriate to lay down transitional measures for the identification of ovine and caprine animals in Bulgaria.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,